Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction is the an action-stealth game developed by Ubisoft Montreal. It is the sixth installment in the Splinter Cell series. Released in 2010, it was developed for the Xbox 360 and Windows. Plot Taking place three years after Sarah Fisher's death, former Navy SEAL Victor Coste is held in a Black Arrow facility for interrogation about the events during Third Echelon's conspiracy. Victor Coste recounts where Sam Fisher first went after his discharge from Third Echelon. Fisher had gone to Valetta, Malta, where Anna "Grim" Grímsdóttir, one of Fisher's teammates during his time in Third Echelon, to tell him about a group of people sent to kill him. Fisher follows the trail to their leader to interrogate him. Fisher learns that Andriy Kobin, the drunk driver that had killed Sarah, is located in Valetta at the moment. Fisher goes to Kobin's mansion to interrogate him about his daughter. Fisher is then captured by Third Echelon agents. Fisher is relocated to Price Airfield in Virgina, where Grim is to interrogate him with support from a PMC called Black Arrow, a PMC based on the remains of Displace International. Once Tom Reed, the new director of Third Echelon, and Colonel Prentiss and Major Robertson of Black Arrow leave, Grim shoots the guard with a silenced pistol and explains that she is a mole in Third Echelon for President Caldwell. After Fisher refuses, Grim tells him that Sarah is actually still alive and that she would prove it during his investigation of Reed's connection with Black Arrow. After escaping the airfield, Victor Coste tells Black Arrow interrogators that Fisher trusted him because of the events during the Gulf War when Fisher had been captured by the local militia and Coste had saved him. Fisher heads to the Washington Monument to meet Victor Coste, who tells Fisher about White Box, where Black Arrow was hired for guard duty, and gives him a device to activate an EMP. Inside White Box, Fisher learns that Black Arrow had been murdering the scientists and Robertson had been disposing of their experimental EMP data after Black Arrow had secured it in their databases. Grim facilitates a call for Fisher to prove that Sarah is indeed alive. Fisher is directed to the Lincoln Memorial to record a conversation between Lucius Galliard, the CEO of Black Arrow, and Tom Reed. Fisher is then sent to interrogate Galliard, who reveals that an unknown group called "Megiddo" had been organizing EMPs in the United States. Fisher infiltrates Third Echelon to recover equipment and retrieve information from Reed's computers. Instead of finding Reed, Fisher finds Andriy Kobin in Reed's office. After interrogating Kobin, Fisher learns that Reed had been smuggling EMP technology into the United States for Megiddo. They had also planned to have President Caldwell assassinated during the chaos that would ensue with the EMPs launched and have her replaced with the vice president, who had sided with Megiddo. Fisher then heads to Grim's office, where Grim is suppose to contact him. Once arriving, Grim tells him that Lambert, who had died in a dirty, New York basement by Fisher's hand, had made an audio recording. Lambert says that their was a mole in Third Echelon who had planned to use Sarah as leverage on Sam. To ensure that Fisher couldn't be, Lambert had faked Sarah's death. Fisher is enraged by what he had heard, while Grim is trying to tell him that an EMP bomb at the Michigan Avenue Reservoir will hit Sarah's apartment. While Fisher is deactivating the bomb, Grim heads to the White House to halt President Caldwell's assassination. With assistance from Victor Coste, who had picked up Sarah from her apartment, Fisher is able to deactivate the EMP bomb. Fisher then heads to the White House to help Grim. Upon meeting Grim, she says that one plan can work. Grim shoots Fisher in the shoulder and takes his weapons and equipment. Once entering the Oval Office, Reed explains that Fisher will be used the assassin, who had been shot after the assassination of President Caldwell. Grim then begins to shoot all the Third Echelon agents and Fisher grabs Reed, shooting the rest. It is revealed that Reed was the mole that Lambert was worried about, who is then executed by either Grim or Fisher. It returns to the present day, where Victor Coste tells them that the last thing that Sam told him was that he loved Coste "like a brother". Victor Coste then explains the importance of family, saying "Brother. That's family, right?" An explosion is then heard implying that Fisher had infiltrated the facility. Gameplay The gameplay of Conviction changes much of the gameplay from past Splinter Cell titles. The stealth parts are redefined for a more fast-paced style. There are also new additions added that have not been seen before. One of the bigger features added is the "Mark and Execute". Once Fisher takes out one guard at close-range, he can mark up to as many guards that the certain guns allow and execute them the marked targets in quick succession. Interrogations are also handled differently than in past titles. Instead of Fisher holding the enemy at gun-point or with a knife to their neck, Fisher instead uses the environment to beat the answers out of them. There is also a multi-player mode, entitled Deniable Ops, in which players take the role as either a Third Echelon agent, codenamed Archer, or a Voron agent, codenamed Kestrel. There are many different modes, including a story mode that serves as a prequel to the game, and a "Hunter" mode, in which players are tasked with taking out all enemies in sections. Downloadable Content There has been only one piece of downloadable content in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction. The downloadable content covers the co-operative Deniable Ops mode, however, free content has been dropped in the "EXTRAS" section on a weekly basis. * Insurgency - The Insurgency pack accesses four new maps: San Francisco, Portland, Salt Lake City and New Orleans. Reception Conviction had received many positive reviews from many gaming sites. Edge Magazine had awarded it an 8 out of 10 in its review, claiming that the title is "in reach of greatness". Edge is particularly impressed with Sam Fisher's ability to turn any environment into "torture chambers" at the press of a button. Main points of criticism are its short length and that too much of the title is played in new atmospheric monochrome. GameSpot awarded the game a score of 8 out of 10, praising its cooperative mode and storytelling, but criticizing its short length and slimmed-down stealth elements, as well as most of the interrogation sections, stating that interrogations were a "missed opportunity", and "more predictable than provocative". Many fans of the series were disappointed with Conviction because of its many differences from past Splinter Cell titles. Category:Games by Ubisoft Category:Splinter Cell series Category:Games released on the Xbox 360 Category:Games released for Mac Category:Games released in 2010 Category:Games that are rated M